How the World Turns
by Beckette
Summary: [AU] Orphaned because of the recent murders of his parents, Riku is sent to live with a brother he never knew he had. Mischievous at heart, he joins a prank-loving group, while at home tries to find out more about this brother of his... [Chapter 1 up]


How the World Turns  
  
Chapter 1  
  
**Rating:** PG-13 just to be safe, may change (to be lower)  
  
**Disclaimer:** I begged and begged and begged but they just wouldn't let me own Kingdom Hearts! ((cries))  
  
**NOTE:** This is not a sequel to "Life As It Is". I'm not even done with it yet! Sorina appears again because I like her, but her hair color changed because I didn't want you to confuse her with Kairi. It's AU! ALTERNATE UNIVERSE!!!!!!!!  
  
Normal Text "Talking" _"Thinking"_ _Emphasis_ ((A/N: author's notes))  
  
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O- Sea-green eyes gazed through the tinted windows of the car, stone-cold lips forming a thin frown. _"I didn't even know I had a brother until today!"_ he thought, thoroughly disgusted. The car stopped in front of a shiny black gate.  
  
"We're here with the child," the driver spoke into the intercom. Riku's eyes narrowed down. They talked about him like he wasn't even a person. Just "the child". The gate swung slowly open, permitting them entrance. Riku knew he didn't fit, with his shabby jeans, ripped shirt, and dirty hair. Everything so new and rich – the butler who greeted them at the door even had a tuxedo on!  
  
"Master Sephiroph is waiting for you in the library," the butler sniffed, looking down at Riku and his clothes. Riku's eyes snapped up, and had to refrain himself from punching the butler. No one talked to him that way, even if he wasn't as rich as the man. Smiling evilly, he took his dirt- covered hand and tugged on the butler's sleeve. The butler winced, but made no comment. The butler sharply knocked on the door.  
  
"Enter," a voice called from inside. They walked in. A man with long, silver hair and piercing blue eyes looked up from some paperwork and smiled.  
  
"Hello, little brother," he greeted, "What's your name?"  
  
"Riku," Riku replied proudly. Sephiroph looked at the butler and made a motion with his hand, leaving the two of them alone.  
  
"So... Riku... your parents finally croaked, eh?" Sephiroph said casually.  
  
Riku winced. His parents were murdered by a psychotic serial killer not too long ago – in fact, only a day ago. Some people were actually celebrating the deaths, though, because even though the police were too late to save his parents, they caught the murderer. "Don't people care about what I feel?" he thought. He saw the whole thing. When the police arrived, they didn't even try to save his parents – they went after the murderer. Riku's family got awards and sympathy, but most people thought it was a noble sacrifice rather than a death.  
  
"I just asked you a question, do you mind answering it?" Sephiroph asked, snapping Riku back to reality.  
  
"I'm sorry... what did you say?" Riku asked politely.  
  
Sephiroph sighed, grumbling. Riku's stomach grumbled a bit, interrupting the silence. Smiling evilly, Sephiroph said, "Guess. You're not eating until you answer it," and with that took a sandwich and started eating himself.  
  
Riku smiled inwardly. This was going to be easy. "I'm 14 years old," he said. Sephiroph frowned. _"How'd that little bastard guess it that easily?"_ he thought. Out loud, he said, "Smart little guy, aren't you? I'm 25. But first, please take a bath," pinching his nose and fanning the air around him.  
  
_"Great. I have a_ moron _as a brother. He embarrassed me so many times, who does he think he is?"_ Riku thought, washing his hair. It wasn't like he hadn't used a shower before. It started when he was 7, when his dad started drinking and lost all of the family's money. They were quite rich back then – upper-middle- class, actually. Wrapping a towel around him, he walked to his new room, a room even bigger than his last house. Looking in the dresser, he wore whatever came first to his hands.  
  
"Master Riku?" the butler knocked. Riku opened it, looking at a pair of stunned eyes. "Master Sephiroph! There's a robber in Master Riku's room!" he screamed into a walkie-talkie. Riku smiled, amused. The butler screamed like a girl.  
  
"Calm down, buddy ol' boy! I'm only here to steal a few things, like food, and clothing, and a shower..." Riku smiled, suppressing laughter. The butler just kept on screaming. Sephiroph appeared a moment later, looking disapprovingly at the butler.  
  
"Where's the robber?" he asked. The butler pointed at Riku. Both brothers erupted in peals of laughter, while the butler looked confusedly at Sephiroph.  
  
"Alex, I admit Riku looks quite different when he's cleaned up, but that's nothing to get scared about!" Sephiroph teased. _"So that's what the butler's name is,"_ Riku thought, making a mental note of it.  
  
"Come, Riku, let's get something to eat," Sephiroph said, guiding Riku towards the kitchen. Riku had a plain peanut butter sandwich, while Sephiroph elaborated more and had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Looking cautiously at Sephiroph, who seemed intent on eating his sandwich, Riku quickly dipped his sandwich in his root beer, hoping that Sephiroph didn't notice.  
  
Sephiroph chuckled. "You dip your sandwiches too?" he asked, quickly dipping his in his coke.

Riku looked down. "Sephiroph?" he asked.  
  
"Mmhmm?" Sephiroph responded.  
  
"Uh... why didn't I know you were my brother?" he blurted out quickly.  
  
"It's something you shouldn't know," was Sephiroph's simple reply.  
  
"But-" Riku refuted.  
  
"You're not ready," Sephiroph interrupted.  
  
"Don't I have a right to know?" Riku said, slamming his hand on the table, "I'm 13! I think I'm old enough!" Sephiroph gave him a pained look.  
  
"I'll tell you when I feel you're ready. You start school tomorrow. It's a public school. I was going to send you to a private school, but looking at your past school record, I personally don't a private school could handle you..." Sephiroph said before standing up.  
  
"Sephiroph?" Riku said. Sephiroph turned. "Thanks," Riku smiled.

-----------------------------  
  
"Mr. Flangel?" the receptionist gasped.  
  
Sephiroph plastered on his "public smile" and said, "I'm here to enroll Riku," he said, clamping his hands onto Riku's shoulders. The receptionist just stared.  
  
"You have a son? By who? When? Where? How?" the receptionist bombarded.  
  
"He's my brother," Sephiroph answered, holding his patience.  
  
"Wow! You have a brother? Amazing!" the receptionist chattered.  
  
"That's really none of your business. Where do we enroll?" Sephiroph interrupted.  
  
The receptionist flushed. "The principal's office is right over there. I'm sorry to have disturbed you. But please... may I get an autograph?" the lady quickly stammered out. Sephiroph scribbled his name on a post-it on the table. "T-thank you!" the lady cried out as they entered the principal's office. The principal, a short, fat man, happily welcomed Riku to the school.  
  
"Well then, bye," Riku said, walking out the door.  
  
"See you in a while, and don't get into too much trouble!" Sephiroph called, also leaving.  
  
Riku walked his first class: Honors Algebra II. He loved math. It was essential to every good prank a person would ever make, since you need to have just the right ratio and timing. That's why he skipped a year of math. Now history – that was a different story. He gave his pass to the tall teacher.  
  
"Class, this is Riku Flangel." the teacher introduced. The class erupted in a chaos of whispering. "Ahem," the teacher continued, "My name is Mr. Ript. Please take a seat next to Wakka. The carrot-head." The class erupted in laughter, while the carrot-head waved. He smiled and quickly sat next to him.  
  
"Eh, so you're Sephiroph's son?" Wakka whispered.  
  
Riku started at Wakka for a while. Why was Sephiroph so famous? "No. I'm his brother. Why's he so famous?" Riku whispered back. Wakka was going to say something but Riku shushed him. Mr. Ript was going to look at them any second. And he did. Wakka scribbled "Meet me at lunch," on his notes and pushed it towards Riku, who nodded.  
  
History actually wasn't that bad. They're teacher, Mr. Highwind, talked all day about WWII, and since he actually fought in it, knew quite a lot about it. The class reacted quite like his math class when the teacher announced his name.  
  
"Now, the WWII planes were much more advance than the WWI planes" Mr. Highwind was saying. The girl next to him poked him.  
  
"What?" he whispered, looking into smoky-gray eyes. She was one of the few Asians here, and obviously was proud of it – she had streaked her hair an orangey-yellow color. The brunette smiled and wrote, "Watch," then proceeded to make a tiny paper airplane on a piece of paper. Then testing the wind with her fingers, she launched the plane right into Mr. Highwind's hair.  
  
"WAKKA!!!!!!!" the teacher screamed, trying to get the airplane out. The classroom was silent – they were scared they couldn't move. The person who sat in front of Riku even peed in his pants. Riku stole a glance at the girl, who was trying to stifle a laugh.  
  
The old man walked to the girl, who promptly burst out laughing. "Like brother, like sister," he muttered, then pretended to whine like a 3-year- old, "Sorina, why do you like to torture your grandpapi so?"  
  
"Because that's the only time I can!" she refuted.  
  
"What if I tell your dear mama?" he threatened.  
  
Sorina, instead of feeling threatened, leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, "I know you won't. You owe me for those toothpicks!" Mr. Highwind muttered some cuss words under his breath, and resumed teaching.   
  
_"So Sorina's Wakka's sister?"_ thought Riku, walking towards his science class. Riku also loved science, especially making slime. It was so fun dumping on unsuspecting people, and perfectly safe.  
  
"Ouch!" a brown-haired boy said, bumping into Riku. "Sora!" a girl said, walking towards the fallen boy and vainly tried to pull him up. _"So the kid's name is Sora..."_ Riku thought.   
  
"So Sora, what class do you have next?" Riku asked, helping the boy up.  
  
"Science with Ms. Sabini!" he said, "So does Kairi!" pointing towards his girlfriend.  
  
"So do I! My name's Riku," Riku said, walking towards their next class. "You mean Riku Flangel?" Kairi gasped. Riku just nodded. He'll have to ask Sephiroph why everyone was making such a big deal that he was a Flangel. He hasn't heard anything about this Mr. Flangel on the news -- but they didn't have television for the past 2 years...

-----------------------------  
  
"Where are you eating?" Sora asked, walking towards the cafeteria. They could eat anywhere except upstairs, since their school was so small.  
  
"Um... you know Wakka? He told me to meet him..." Riku said, looking around.  
  
"Wakka? Isn't he a sophomore?" Sora asked, surprised. Sophomores didn't really hang around freshman...  
  
"I think so. He was in my math class, and his sister's in my history class," Riku added.  
  
"Well, see you around then, Riku," Kairi said, starting to walk away with Sora.  
  
"Wait!" Riku said, "Why not come with me?" Sora shrugged at looked at Kairi, who immediately squealed. Riku guessed that was a yes. Yet – no one except their science class was out yet. He checked his watch. Apparently the science teacher couldn't stand them any longer and had let them out 5 minutes early... Riku was going to have fun in that class...   
  
"Wait here. I have to go somewhere," Riku said, leaving Sora and Kairi. If he wanted to happily thrive at this school, he'll need to know his surroundings...  
  
The bell rang and students poured out of the classrooms. "Hi," a pretty girl with green, doe-like eyes stared at him, "My name's Selphie." Instantly, another girl came up and introduced herself. Some other girls just stared. Disgusted, he started to push through the crowd, but since he was in the center, the crowd just sort of re-centered whenever he moved.  
  
"Yo! Kid!" Wakka yelled, pushing through the crowd. Then, looking back at the crowd, he said, "Be nice to the new kid! Give him a week before you swarm," and winked. The crowd slowly dispatched, leaving Wakka and some die- hard girls who just wouldn't go. Riku found Sora and Kairi staring at him, under a tree.  
  
"Hey Wakka, can some of my friends eat with you guys?" Riku asked, motioning towards Sora and Kairi.  
  
"Sure, kid" Wakka smiled, waving towards Sora and Kairi. Kairi quickly grabbed Sora's hand and dragged them towards Wakka.  
  
"So... you're the famous Flangel," drawled a blond-haired, blue eyed guy, smirking.  
  
"Be nice to the new kid, Blondie!" a girl with ebony hair teased, slapping the blond on the shoulder. Then turning her eyes on Riku she said, "Hi! I'm Yuffie,"  
  
"So... erm... Blondie," Riku started, not sure what blondie's real name was. Or was Blondie is real name? It was quite a queer name, but judging from his hair, it didn't seem too wrong.  
  
"It's Cloud," the blond said, lips curling into a smile. Riku smiled inwardly. Cloud was even worse than Blondie! This group sure had weird names...  
  
"Hi. I'm Aerith," a brunette said in a sing-songy voice. Who obviously loved pink, by looking at her clothes.  
  
"You know me," Sorina said, "and that's Squ—er... Leon. He doesn't talk much." Leon nodded.  
  
"I'm Kairi and this is Sora!" Kairi happily piped up, waving. Sora slightly flushed, embarrassed by his girlfriend's loudness. Noticing Sora's discomfort, Cloud said, "Well you'll get along just fine with Yuffie. She's hyper beyond belief," Yuffie pouted.  
  
"Well anyways," Wakka whispered, "I heard there was going to be a fire drill tomorrow. What should we do?"  
  
"Well—" Yuffie started, but was interrupted by Riku, who said, "Sh... Mr. Highwind's here,"  
  
"What are ya planning again?" Mr. Highwind said, suspicious. He knew that his two grandchildren were the best pranksters at the school.  
  
"Mr. Highwind, we are sorry if we disrupted your lunch in any way. We promise we won't do it again," Riku said, crossing his fingers behind his back.  
  
"Aw kid, that's okay. Call me Cid, if ya like," Cid said, and left. The group interrupted into giggles after Cid was out of earshot.  
  
"Okay, so how many of you crossed your finger?" Sorina asked, smiling. The whole group except Kairi raised their hands.  
  
"Aw that's okay, Kairi! All you have to say is, "I solemnly swear I was dozing off when he said that" and it works like you crossed your fingers!" Yuffie grinned.  
  
Kairi bit her lip. "I – I don't like lying..." she muttered, blushing slightly.  
  
"Whee!" the hyper-active Yuffie said "We can convert you! I love converting people!"  
  
"We're going to my place at 5 to discuss the fire drill" Wakka said, before leaving for their next classes, "Look me up in the school directory!"  
  
-----------------------------

School was over before Riku knew it. He glanced at his watch. It was a brand new G-Shock he got from Sephiroph. Sephiroph said he'll get Alex to pick him up by 3, and it was only 2:30. "Well, time to explore, shall we?" he thought, pulling out a notebook. Since Wakka seemed to want to do with tomorrow's fire drill, he first made notes of all the fire exits that were posted on the bland cement walls. He then quickly made a very detailed sketch of the fire alarm. It would be easy to rig, he noted. Then he measured the distance from each classroom to the exits and the height of the doors. He glanced at his watch. 3:00 – perfect timing.  
  
-----------------------------

"Can I go speak to Sephiroph?" Riku asked Alex. Alex merely nodded. He was still embarrassed about the other day when he thought Riku was a robber.  
  
"He's in the library, eh?" Riku said in more like a statement then a question. The butler nodded again. Sighing, Riku settled back in the seat.  
  
"Master Riku! You must get up! Master Sephiroph would like to speak to you," Alex shook Riku, who had dozed off in the car. Riku merely groaned and pushed Alex away. Sighing, Alex called Sephiroph via the walkie-talkie again.  
  
"He won't get up?" Sephiroph asked, chuckling silently. He was like that too. "Alex, put the walkie-talkie to his ear," he commanded. Alex did as he was told.  
  
"Cotton candy," was all Sephiroph said. Riku opened his eyes. "Where?" he asked.  
  
Sephiroph chuckled and said, "Meet me in the library,"  
  
Riku groaned and walked past Alex towards the library. Trouble was, the house was so huge, he easily got lost. No panic though. It's not like the house didn't have several intercoms. He quickly found one and said, "Alex, I'm lost. I'm next to the painting of a bunny,"  
  
Alex was there in about 2 minutes. In 10 more minutes, he was safely in the library. Apparently there were many servants' walkways that made getting places faster. Sadly though, it was also a place where "masters and their guests" weren't allowed to walk through.  
  
"You got lost, eh?" Sephiroph said chucking, when Riku walked in. Riku glared.  
  
"So, how was your day?" Sephiroph asked, silver hair swishing and he stood up.  
  
"Mmm good. People were swooning over me because of my last name. Why is that?" Riku asked, flopping on a couch. Sephiroph gave him an enigmatic smile.  
  
"Riku, have you seen any... movies... lately?" Sephiroph asked. Riku shook his head, eyes widening a bit. Was Sephiroph an actor? Come to think of it, Riku did see a poster with a silver-haired person.  
  
"But not even good actors are this rich!" Riku said. And why was he signing paperwork instead of his agent? Sephiroph was so confusing...  
  
"I've also had good luck with stocks," Sephiroph added, "and a little talent with manipulation doesn't hurt." Riku remembered the incident with Cid and laughed. Looks like the whole Flangel family was manipulative...  
  
"Hey, Sephiroph? Can I go to a friend's house at 5:45?" Riku asked, changing the topic. Sephiroph seemed to consider it for a few moments, then, to Riku's surprise, tossed him a water gun. "If you can get this stuffed animal wet," Sephiroph grinned, throwing the blue elephant in the air. Riku hadn't even pumped up the water gun yet. _"Wait, he said if I can get the stuffed animal wet, not if I can shoot it in the air"_ he thought, and quickly shot the stuffed animal on the ground.  
  
Sephiroph smiled. The kid was good. "You can go... Alex will drive you," he said. Riku frowned. If Alex drove him, he'll be waiting outside the whole time. It was like Sephiroph didn't trust him.  
  
"Actually..." Riku said, "I would much prefer if I could walk..." Sephiroph's eyes narrowed down into slits. This was not a good sign.  
  
"No. Alex will drive. We don't want any danger, do we?" Sephiroph glared.  
  
"But—" but Sephiroph's phone interrupted him. It sounded serious.  
  
"Who was that?" Riku asked, intrigued. It sounded like... top-secret information. Something that an actor wouldn't know.  
  
"Nothing you should know," Sephiroph said icily. The kid was so nosy!  
  
An idea flickered before Riku as he pieced the snippets of information he heard together. Smirking, he said, "Sephiroph, you could have told me you worked for the CIA!"  
  
_"Damn the kid's good,"_ Sephiroph thought, cursing slightly under his breath. Out loud, he said, "Well, since you know, we'll need to give you lessons in self defense, eh? Until you master self defense, Alex will accompany you. But – he can stay in the car if you would like. And here's a walkie-talkie,"  
  
Riku groaned, but at least he could go.

-----------------------------

"Hey, Riku came in a limo!" Yuffie said, peering out the window. Sure enough, a silver-haired kid got out of the limo a minute later.

"Hey guys, sorry that I'm late..." Riku muttered.

"Aww, no problem!" Yuffie said, smiling.

"Now onto the fire drill thing..." Riku started, getting out his notebook.   
  
-----------------------------  
  
**A/N:** Was that funny? Was that anguish? Was that romance? I CANT FIND THE GENRE!!!! cries Help me? The "cotton candy" idea was from the show, "The Fresh King of Belair", where the daddy woke up whenever something said sausage. And I think I finally mastered the italics and bolds and stuff! smiles proudly   
  
**Dedication:** To Naruto (the manga-thingy), who has captured the heart of one of my friends and thoroughly pissed me off. Actually, he regularly pisses me off... why am I even his friend? O.o  
  
**Music:** "Hey Mama" _Black Eyed Peas_, "1985" _Bowling for Soup_, "My Happy Ending" _Avril Lavigne_


End file.
